Grief
by trinity23
Summary: Audrey grieves for Claire. Slight Femslash. M for language.


**OK, so I wrote this one after S3 Ep11. It doen't follow the plot of 12/13 ... I guess it could be a little bubble between 11 and 12...Except Claire is dead. So this is Audreys reaction to Claires death.**

**Mentions of femslash, so if you don't like it you know where the back button is. **

**M for laguage.**

**Enjoy, see you at the bottom :-)**

'How did I not realise?' Audrey said quietly.

Nathan caught Dukes eye and shrugged, unsure if the blonde had even noticed them enter the room or if she was just talking to herself.  
'Parker?' The young woman turned sharply as Nathan spoke. Clearly she wasn't aware that the two men were there. When she saw them however, she showed no signs of recognition, instead just putting her head back into her hands. Duke remained leaning against the door, arms crossed, silently urging Nathan to continue.  
'Parker, no-one did.' Nathan said quietly, moving to take Audrey's hand. 'Just be thankful I got to you before she could…' he trailed off, unsure of how to finish his sentence without further upsetting the young woman in front of him.

Audrey turned to face her partner and repeated her question, tears forming in her eyes as she continued. 'I should have noticed. If something happened to Claire I should have seen it. I mean, who knows how long she's been dead. We've been together for months now and she gets murdered and replaced by a fucking skin walker and none of us even betted an eyelid.'

Nathans eyes widened as Audrey started to sob. He could not handle crying women. He glanced over at Duke who kept his position in the office doorway but spoke quietly.  
'Audrey, we all spent time with Claire. None of us realised. You can't put all of the blame onto yourself. The creep had us all fooled.'

Instead of calming the blonde down, Dukes words only seemed to upset her more as her sobs grew louder and she gasped out 'But I should have realised.'

Duke frowned as Nathan spoke again in an attempt to soothe his partner. 'Parker, I worked with Claire too – hell, I brought her in. Maybe I should have spotted something. We just didn't see it.'

Audrey shook her head. 'You don't understand,' she said softly.

Duke walked over and placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. 'Hey Nate, go grab her some coffee or something will you? I think she might still be a bit shaken.' Nathan picked up on Dukes not so subtle hint and left the room, leaving Duke watching the sobbing blonde, a curious expression on his face.  
'Audrey,' Duke began, 'I know you were probably closer to Claire than we were, but you still –'

'Closer?' The blonde shrieked, slamming her fists on the table. 'Of course I was closer; we were fucking for Christ sake. How much closer can you get?' She glared angrily up at Duke who smirked back at her.

'Fucking huh?' he asked, considering for a moment. 'Yeah, that's definitely hot.'

Audrey's eyes widened and she shook her head, tears subsiding. 'Time and a place Duke,' she said quietly, rolling her eyes when the dark haired man didn't reply. 'Duke?' the blonde repeated, finally slapping the older man on the thigh when he continued to stare dreamily into space.

'Ouch!' Duke rubbed his leg and glared down at Audrey. 'What? You can't give a guy an image like that and expect him to just continue with life.' He grinned at the blonde who was now smiling slightly. 'You gotta give me time to savour the moment.'

Audrey shook her head and rolled her eyes dramatically. 'Trust me Duke, whatever you're imagining,' she grinned up at him before continuing 'it's nowhere near as hot as the real thing.' She giggled at the astonished look on Dukes face as he stuttered and stammered, unable to conjure up one of his usual witty responses, which sent the blonde into peals of hysterical laughter. She leaned her head against Dukes thigh as her laughter subsided; tears – of guilt Duke thought – started to fall again.

Duke stroked her hair gently and she smiled softly up at him, tears still running silently down her face.  
'Audrey, I won't confess to knowing Claire as well as you – clearly I don't,' Duke knelt in front of Audrey, clasping one of her hands in his and continuing gently 'but I think I knew her well enough to be able to tell you that you're allowed to laugh.'

Audrey smiled sadly down at him, the guilt that Duke had earlier suspected now clear in her eyes. 'I just don't know how I didn't realise,' she whispered.

Duke stood up suddenly, pulling Audrey up with him before spinning them both round and sitting himself on the chair Audrey had just vacated; pulling the blonde down to sit on his lap, wrapping his arm tightly around her and kissing her softly on the forehead.  
'Do you remember your birthday party? The surprise one a couple of years back?'  
Audrey looked confused, but nodded and waited for him to continue.  
'Do you remember what happened?'

She sighed, realisation hitting. 'Of course I remember Duke, but this doesn't exactly make me feel any better. You guys realised that I…wasn't myself.'

'Actually, Nathan realised that he couldn't feel you. That was what gave the chameleon away. Otherwise we wouldn't have known.'

Audrey shook her head, annoyed that Duke didn't understand. 'You guys had only known me for like three months, I-'

'How long have you known Claire?' Duke asked quietly.

'I, erm, dammit Duke,' Audrey shrugged Dukes arm away and tried to wriggle off him. The tall brunette wrapped both of his arms even tighter, not allowing Audrey to make her escape.  
'I loved her y'know? It just makes me sick to my stomach that I didn't realise that there was something wrong.' The blonde whispered.

Duke sighed. 'Nate and I both love you too. We did even way back then. It makes no difference where the troubles are concerned. It's just not that simple.'

'I just, wait – what?' Audrey twisted to face Duke, seeing in his eyes that what he'd just said was indeed true.

'Oh come on Parker, don't act like you don't know.' Duke said with a sad smile. 'Don't worry; I'm not expecting you to declare your undying love for me. I was just trying to show you that you aren't to blame here. The troubles can fool anyone and everyone – even Special agent Audrey Parker.'

Audrey giggled and leaned into Dukes chest. 'I really had no idea y'know?' she said, squeezing Dukes hand.

'Well clearly your attention hasn't been on me now has it? I've told you before, I don't help cops, I don't like cops, I'm definitely not friends with cops, but you Audrey, you're special. I know it, Nathan knows it and I'm sure Claire knew it too.'  
Audrey shook her head and snuggled even further into Dukes chest.  
'I'm not saying that you can't be sad that Claire's gone, or that that you're ever gonna forget her. I'm telling you that you are absolutely not allowed to blame yourself for what happened to her. When you're thinking about her, you need to remember the good times you two had together, and you know what?'  
Audrey tilted her head back to look up at him questioningly.  
'If you ever want to share any of your memories of Claire, I'll be all too happy to hear more about what you two got up to.'

Audrey slapped his chest and sighed. 'I know you're right Duke. I might take me a little while but thank you. Really, thank you.'

A cough drew their attention to the doorway where Nathan stood, smiling softly at the sight of his partner curled up in Crocker's lap, head leaning on his chest as she waved across at him.  
'You doing alright Parker?' He asked with a smile.

Audrey squeezed Dukes hand and smiled up at him before replying. 'I'm getting there.'

**Hope you enjoyed? Let me know with a review xx**


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